


Ever Changing-Before the Darkness

by Daydream1013



Series: Times are Shifting [1]
Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, No beta we die like mne, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2020-11-01 06:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20810591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daydream1013/pseuds/Daydream1013
Summary: The Cybertronians are not the only residence of Cybertron. A techno-organic species called Shifters had lived with the Cybertronians for generations, after their own world was made uninhabitable through natural disasters.When Cybertron went dark, it was largely thought this species had died out. This assumption is proven wrong to Team Prime when Cliffjumper and Arcee found a small clan on patrol.Now, Team Prime's numbers are growing, just in time for everything to change once again.





	1. Nothing Stays the Same

**Author's Note:**

> HI HERE'S A STORY WITH TECHNO-ORGANIC TRANSFORMERS THAT TAKE ANIMAL FORMS. OKAY HAVE FUN READING BYE!

“We got an energon signal.” The blue femme rubbed her optics. Well, that’s one way to come out of recharge. Arcee looked at their medic as he pulled up a map. Abandoned city Agdam in Azerbaijan. A red mech joined her side, placing his hands on his hips. She glanced over at her partner and smirked. “You both ready to bridge there?”

“I’m always ready.” Cliff stretched his arms, making a show of it. The blue femme rolled her eyes. That didn’t stop a smile from forming on her faceplate.

“Like you were ready for that boulder the one time?” The two walked towards the groundbridge area; the mech laughed in good humor.

“One time.”

“Still was funny as frag. You were so worried when I joked that your horns were broken.”

“It would have been a tragedy!”

“Are you two about done?” Arcee giggled softly at their medic’s annoyed huffing. She stretched her arms as she walked over to the ground bridge.

“Let’s do this.” Cliff slammed his fist into his hand. “I’m so ready to get more energon.”

“Just be careful,” the medic reminded. “And be ready for any decepti-”

“Decepticon activity,” the red mech finished. “Yeah yeah carrier can we go now.” Ratchet huffed softly.

“I’m not your carrier.” He muttered as he opened the ground bridge. Arcee playfully shoved Cliffjumper’s arm before transforming and speeding off into the green vortex. The mech rolled his optics, transformed himself, and sped after her. Once they landed in the destroyed city, they transformed back into their root form. In a second, their arms changed into guns. It was a few minutes later before they got any communication.

“ _ Agent Fowler has informed us the city was destroyed during a war,”  _ Optimus told, breaking the radio silence.  _ “Is his statement correct?” _ Arcee and Cliffjumper both continued to look at their surroundings, their guns out and ready to fire.

“Yeah, Boss. He wasn’t kidding,” Arcee replied. “This place’s building look like they’ll fall any moment, and it’s overrun with nature. You sure this is where the energon signal was coming from, Ratchet?” She looked up at the crumbling skyscrapers. “Isn’t like all the other energon deposits we’ve found before.”

An annoyed  _ humph _ sounded and the medic’s voice came through a second later,  _ “I have never been wrong before so why should this be any different?”  _

“Well, Earth’s technology may have finally bugged out,” Cliff mentioned with a smirk.  
_“Unlikely, Cliffjumper. Now the readings says you should be approaching the deposit fairly soon.” _Gaining this knowledge, the two partners walked through the crumbling city that had been taken over by the earth. Arcee’s optics traveled around gradually.

“I really don’t know about this Cliff. This place seems pretty barren to me.” Arcee noted. The red mech shrugged.

“We need this supply Ar. Better for us to know nothing is here than to let the decepticons to get at it.” She sighed and nodded. Of course she knew that, she just didn't like the feeling she had here. Something wasn't right. This place was just so much different than other energon sites. Her arm shot out to stop Cliffjumper as they neared a bridge. She could have sworn she heard something moving.

“Hold on Cliff.” She murmured, looking around. He raised an optic rift at her.

“What? You feel something in the force?” A small glare was sent his way but nothing more.

“You’ve got to stop watching those Earth movies.”

“Star Wars is an Earth classic and I love it.” She rolled her eyes and walked forward slowly, going along the bridge’s side. The sound of something moving returned, closer this time. “Ratchet? You wouldn’t happen to be picking up any other cybertronian signals?”

_ “You and Cliff are the only ones on my radar. Do you see something?” _

“N-.” Her reply died in her vocalizer as a wolf with a dark red coat jumped out of the bushes. Its piercing icy blue eyes matched the snarl on its lips. She tilted her helm as she watched it. Normally organic life forms on this planet would run away from them. This one...seemed to be unfazed. “Ratchet? There wolves around here?”

_ “Arcee don't ask stupid questions. There are no wolves in that region.” _

“Not a stupid question when I see one right in front of me.” She snapped back.

_ “Wait...What? Are you serious?”  _ Cliff chuckled at the doctor’s surprised reaction, finally catching up to his partner. He set up his optics to send back what they were seeing back to the base.

“And it’s not running away.” He reported, taking an experimental step forward. The wolf kept its ground. He glanced over at Arcee and shrugged. “Can we know if this is even a real wolf?”

_ “By the AllSpark.”  _ Ratchet gasped.  _ “I think that’s a Shifter.” _

“Seriously?” Arcee replied, kneeling down towards the wolf. “Basically organic transformers? Those shifters? I thought when Cybertron went dark, all of the shifters were killed.” The wolf slowly lost its snarl, relaxing. It began to hesitantly sneak towards the two bots, sniffing the air constantly. The femme smiled and offered it her hand. “Easy there, friend.” The wolf looked up at her, then to her hand, before carefully taking the hand in its mouth and began to pull.

“Okay, now it’s trying to lead us somewhere.” Cliff updated, following his partner and the wolf. He smirked at the bewildered look on Arcee’s face.

_ “Follow it.”  _ Optimus ordered.  _ “There may be a shifter pack they’re a part of.”  _ Arcee sighed but continued to follow the pull of her hand.

“How about you let go so I don’t have to crawl the whole way there.” The wolf looked her over and gave a small growl. “We’ll follow.” She assured. Blue eyes went to the red bot, only to receive a nod of confirmation. A second later, the wolf released her hand from its mouth and began to trot away, looking back every so often to see if the two bots were still following. The partners looked at each other for a second before Cliff shrugged and began to walk after the canine.

“Maybe they’ll know where that energon signal is coming from.” The mech reasoned. Arcee thought it over before giving a shrug of her own. The two followed as the wolf raced through the overgrown city streets. The two fell into their normal recon routine. Arcee kept an optic on their destination while her mech partner made sure to watch the area around them. The wolf led them over a few small bridges and under a few overpasses. They stopped at a large collapsed overpass. The wolf looked back a last time before running into a small hole into a pile of rubble. Arcee knelt down to look into where the wolf had run into.

“Ember?” An old, worn out voice echoed in the small cave. “Why are you ba-”

“Autobots.” A young, boyish voice replied. Cliff and Arcee shared a small smile between them at the younger voice’s excitement. “Sire, they could help!”

“And you’re sure they are Autobots?” The older voice snarled, not in an aggressive manner but more in a panicked and concerned one. “What if you just brought Decepticons to our only haven?”

“We could bridge Optimus over.” Cliff suggested, kneeling down beside Arcee. “Ya know, show you we’re the good guys?” Silence filled the cave as the red car’s words passed over the stone walls.

“Sire.” The younger male voice returned, a whisper now. “Carrier will not last much longer if we do not get help.” Seconds passed by before a soft sigh filled the air. Another second passed before the wolf returned with a golden eagle on his back.

“I want to speak to Optimus Prime himself.” The eagle requested. “I need to know my flock will be safe.” Cliff nodded and opened the comm link so the two smaller creatures can hear. The eagle ruffled his feathers slightly before nodding.

“Optimus Prime? My name is Echo. I am the second in command of our flock, under my mate.”

“That is who is injured?” Optimus asked, voice calm and soothing. Arcee saw how the two shifters relaxed. It would be hard to deny that they were autobots now.

“Yes, sir. We ended up here in a space bridge incident and ran into Decepticons. Ground troops, easily taken care of but Daydream was hurt in the attack.” The wolf’s ears went flat against his head and a soft whimper left him. The eagle gently nuzzled the furry neck. “We managed to get here and set up a sort of base but we haven’t been able to heal her at all.”

“We have supplies to help her recovery.” The autobot leader informed. “And a medic who is familiar with Shifter physiology. If you are willing, we can ground bridge you back to our base.” The golden eagle and the wolf looked at one another before the eagle nodded.

“We humbly accept your offer, Optimus Prime.” The eagle hopped off of the wolf’s back, shifting into a male human. His hair was a dark brown, similar to his golden eagle’s feathers. His eyes remained the same golden yellow. He wore a dirty and torn rain jacket with a black t-shirt underneath. His jeans were just as torn up as his jacket and he wore worn out combat boots. The male shifter gave a small nod to the two bots. “Our flock is small, and we do not need a lo-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Cliff assured, waving off the shifter’s worry. “Y'all being here could help us scout out more energon anyways.” The wolf’s ears perked up and looked at Echo. He began to hop slightly, an excited whimper leaving Ember’s throat. The shifter shook his head with a fond smile before nodding to his son.

“We know where there’s an energon depot nearby.” He informed, his lips curling into a smile like snarl. “It’s not huge but it could be rationed to last a while.” Arcee and Cliff looked at one another and shared a smile.

“We actually came here,” Arcee began to explain, “because we got an energon signal.” Echo gave a curt nod and looked over at Ember.

“Go get your sister.” He ordered with a soft voice. “And tell Oracle to get Daydream ready to move.” He looked back at the bot partners. “I’ll lead you to the depot.”

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

It was hours later that the small clan of 6, another shifter named Tempest having joined Echo and the two bots when they surveyed the depot he was guarding, was finally ready to move to the autobot base. A large brown bear, the clan’s healer and the one named Oracle, left the small cave that was the clan’s temporary home with a wounded lioness on her back. Echo flew over, landing next to his wife. Daydream purred softly and the two nuzzled one another. Arcee knelt beside the bear, looking over the injured leader. The wound was a gash wound, currently wrapped in different strips of clothes of different types of clothing. The clothing was darkened with the purple blood soaking into it.

“Thank the ancestors,” Oracle murmured, “we were able to stop the worst of the bleeding. If we hadn’t…” She trailed off. A moment later, she shook her head.

“But that didn’t happen.” Arcee reassured. The bear looked up at the femme. She smiled at the autobot and Arcee could see she relaxed every so slightly.

“And we now have allies in this world.” The bear looked back at the two on her back. Echo was laying his head on Daydream’s as she slept lightly. Arcee smile in sympathy before offering her hand.

“I can take her, if you want.” Oracle glanced back at the couple who laid on her back. She looked back at the autobot, and she shook her head.

“It’s alright. I prefer to keep them close.” The bear’s ears flatten slightly. “Not because I don’t trust you!” Arcee waved off the worry.

“Don’t stress about it. Just thought I’d ask.” Oracle bowed her head in a sign of thanks.

“The offer is appreciated.” Heavy footsteps approached the two and their conversation ended there.

“I’m just saying,” a girlish, singsong like voice argued, “your paint job would look more cool if you had more details on it!” Oracle released a weary sigh as Cliffjumper approached the group with a small dove on his shoulder. The dove looked down at them and hopped around a bit. “Come on, back me up here Ember!” The bear looked behind her as the son of their leaders walked out of the cave, pulling a small cart of all of their stuff. A snarled formed on his lips.

“Are you really arguing about something so trivial when our carrier could have died?” He snapped back. Arcee’s optics widened but didn’t do anything more as she saw Oracle release a weary sigh. Apparently this wasn’t unusual. The dove’s feathers puffed up.

“But she didn’t! And being snappy won’t help her now wi-”

“Enough!” The group froze as a new voice joined the conversation. Despite the obvious strain and exhaustion, the voice still held an air of command. The femme looked to the bear’s back to see the lioness with her head raised. She gave a stern glare to the two youngest members of the pack. Both bowed their heads under her gaze. “Ember, Aurora is correct that snapping and getting hostile will not help.” The wolf flattened his ears and lowered his head.

“Yes carrier.” Aurora laughed harshly at her brother’s submission. Daydream turned her gaze back to the dove.

“And Aurora-”

“Oh no…”

“You do have a tendency to not take serious situations seriously.” The dove looked away, her feathers smoothing out as she took in her carrier’s words. The lioness’s eyes softened at the two, a purr leaving her. “Though I am glad that my injury has not changed much between you two.” Aurora gave a happy chirp before flying down and landed next to her sire. She nuzzled her carrier’s cheek gently.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” The two nuzzled each other gently. Arcee smiled softly and stood up, retreating back towards Cliff.

“Tight little group, huh?” The red mech noted, leaning against a crumbling building. It groaned softly but didn’t move other than that. The femme simply gave a smirk in response. Daydream looked up at the two autobots before looking to her mate. The golden eagle rested his forehead against hers.

“Autobots, love.” They both closed their eyes as his reassurance washed over her. “We must have unearthed enough of the energon for the signal to reach their scanners.” She nodded and laid her head back down. Oracle turned her head enough to press her head against the two.

“Are we ready to go?” The lioness nodded, half asleep already. Echo copied the action. Oracle turned to the bots and nodded. Arcee lifted her hand to her helm, tapping her comm to signal for Rachet to bridge them back. A second later the green wormhole formed behind them. Tempest, with his dirty blond hair now in a short ponytail, clapped his hands together. He was currently the only one of the small clan to be in his human form.

“Why are we still here then?” He smirked at the two bots. “I personally wanna meet this leader of yours. I’ve only heard stories.” The man shifted into an otter, darting into the green portal. Ember followed close behind with Aurora taking off and landing in their small cart of things. Arcee took a deep ventilation in as she watched Oracle walked beside Cliff through the ground bridge. Earth certainly has gotten more interesting.


	2. Hardships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora is trying her best to cope with her carrier being in a coma. Trying is the key word. And a certain blue femme has noticed the young shifter's struggle.

If Aurora was quiet, something was wrong with her. In the few days Daydream’s pack had been at the autobot base, that was something Arcee picked up pretty quickly. The young dove loved to talk. She talked about anything and everything. Apparently Aurora liked to go to town and would talk her brother’s ear off about a cool shop or something funny she saw some kids doing. If she wasn’t with her brother, she was with Oracle or Tempest, talking about anything they could have a solid conversation about. Sometimes Arcee found her with her sire. Echo and Aurora often talked about flying, going over some techniques the dove wanted to go learn.

And she didn’t limit herself to just the shifter pack. No, everyone got their share of the talkative bird. She would perch on Ratchet’s shoulder as he worked and just talked aimlessly until the medic would shoo her away. She loved to listen to Bulkhead’s stories and returned the exchange with her own stories of her training as a messenger. Apparently being a shifter messenger was much more...interesting than Arcee had expected. Bumblebee and her had hit it off almost immediately when the shifter pack had moved in. Honestly, no one was really surprised by that. Both shifter and bot probably was happy to have another creature around their mental age. Occasionally, the dove would turn her attention to Cliffjumper and herself. Cliff loved to “talk shop” about his paint while Arcee was more the one the girl would talk to about battle strategies. The only bot the dove didn’t talk their audio sensors off was Optimus but even then they did have a few chats from what Arcee saw.

So when Arcee came out of her berth room into the main base area to find the dove perched up and away from everyone, she knew something was wrong. With a frown on her faceplates, she approached the white bird. Aurora glanced down as the femme leaned against the railing near her. The bird simply continued grooming herself. Second red flag: Aurora was not jumping at an invitation to talk.

“You know,” Arcee started, looking around the base casually, “it’s awfully quiet when you’re not chatting away.” The femme watched the shifter closely out of the corner of her optic to see any reaction. Aurora glanced over at her before turning her head to clean under her wing. Arcee’s frown grew. She turned to face the dove head on, not allowing Aurora to escape the concern glare she was receiving.

“I’m trying to groom here.” The dove didn’t look at her. Arcee placed her hands on her hips and leaned towards one side.

“Yeah and you’re not talking. That spells out to me that something is wrong.” The dove paused before sighing softly. Her head lowered, looking away. Arcee lifted a hand and gently petted the dove. “If you don’t want to talk to me about it, that’s fine. Just talk to someone okay?” She moved to pull her servo away only for the bird to hop onto it. Arcee’s eye ridge twitched slightly and brought both her servo and Aurora closer to her. The young shifter hopped onto the femme’s shoulder once close enough, burying herself in the slope between the shoulder and the neck.

“Carrier is still not awake.” The two wheeler sighed. She should have known this was what was bothering the girl. 2 weeks in the base and Daydream had only woken the one time before they got to the base. Ratchet and Oracle had assured that it was normal, that her mind was keeping her asleep while her body healed. Obviously the words had not reassured the lion’s kit. The femme carefully held the bird closer to her neck with her hand.

“I know you’re scared,” She murmured softly. “I don’t know how you’re feeling because I didn’t really know my creators.” The young dove snuggled closer. “But if it was Optimus or pit even Ratchet being hurt and I couldn’t do anything? I would be devastated.” She turned her head enough to get a look at the upset dove. Aurora glanced back up at her. Even though the shifter could not produce tears in this form, Arcee could tell she would have been sobbing. “She’s gonna be alright, Aurora.” The dove buried her face back into the two wheeler’s neck.

They stayed like that for a long while. Arcee didn’t exactly know why the young shifter was comforted by her but if, for some reason, Aurora was relaxed with her, then she’ll be there for the girl. The two girls ended up just relaxing on a pile of crates the bots used as seats. Arcee was laying on them, her legs hanging over one end while Aurora, still in her dove form, laid on her chest. A datapad rested in the bot’s hand as they watched some old Cybertronian rom-coms. It wasn’t exactly what the femme would typically watch on her own but it was entertaining for the youngest shifter.

It wasn’t until Ember padded in, pulling a cart of energon into the main base area, that Aurora lifted her head from laying down. Arcee glanced from the datapad to her then to the dove’s brother. With a gentle hand, she nudged the dove in the direction of the wolf.

When the dove tilted her head, she replied by softly saying, “if you’re worried, chances are he is too. Go talk to him.” Aurora looked between Ember and Arcee a few times.

“He’ll make fun of me.” The blue femme raised a challenging eyebrow. Aurora sighed and lowered her head. “Okay maybe not.” She glanced at the wolf a few moments before getting up and flying over to land on his back. Arcee went back to the datapad. It wasn’t her place to eavesdrop on them. When she did glance up to check on them, Aurora was nuzzled into her brother’s neck. The two wheeler went back to the show playing on the pad, a small smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have the next I think 4 chapters after this all written up so I'll be posting them as I work on the chapters following. So if the future chapters have a larger time gap between chapters, I've probably caught up with myself. :3 Also, this first part is going to be the shortest of parts I have planned, with some of the shortest chapters. So chapter lengths will likely increase with future parts!
> 
> Kudos are welcomed! Also thanks for any and all comments! They really made my day!


	3. Run Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember hasn't been taking his carrier's coma, like his sister. But he has a bit of a different coping mechanism.

Running in the dessert was one of the most relaxing things Ember found. Something about being able to just run, adrenaline rushing through him without the worry of an actual fight. His sire often said he got it from his carrier. He always says, “You land creatures always need to run.” 

The thought of his carrier sent a stab of pain to ripple through his heart. Maybe that was the reason why he found running to relaxing. He didn’t have to be in the base where his still recovering carrier was. He didn’t have to constantly worry he would hear Oracle say she didn't make it. He didn’t have to worry about acting busy while the anxiety of waiting for Daydream to wake up racked his body. He missed his carrier. He knew he wasn’t the only one worried. Aurora had sought him out for comfort more than a few times now. Though the two often fought, they would always be there for one another. He would smile, hold her close, whisper to her that everything would be alright. That carrier was just taking more time to recover so she’ll be in top shape.

He liked to run because he didn’t have to lie then. He didn’t have to force a smile and lie to reassure Aurora. He didn’t have to lie to his sire when he says he’s handing the situation fine. He didn’t have to lie to the bots when he says he’s not tired. He didn’t have to lie to Oracle when she asked if he was sleeping enough. He hated lying, but he had to. Well, maybe he didn’t have to but it certainly made it a lot easier to deal with.

Upon coming across a small lake, he slowed down from his full run to a slow trot. He laid down beside the water. Occasionally, he lapped up the cool water. It was nice to be alone sometimes. He loved his pack, truly he did, but sometimes having people around constantly was overwhelming. It was part of the reason he had offered to do the patrols of the destroyed city when they were still there. It gave him the two things he enjoyed at the same time. He could run and he could be alone. It was also a bonus that he could make sure his pack was safe. It also lead to meeting the autobots, so that was another perk of his patrols.

His eyes lifted from the water to the sky. The slowly sinking sun made the fluffy clouds of the sky to change to different shades of pink and orange. As the adrenaline gradually left his body, he felt his muscles loosening and his mind slow to a more calm rate of thinking. This was why he ran. The high of adrenaline was wonderful and all, but this physical relaxation afterwards was also a reason for his running. The days he ran like this often led to less restless nights. He wouldn’t get the right amount of rest, that he knew was a given. But at least he would get more than a few restless hours of laying in his bed, looking up at the high ceiling and wondering when things would get back to normal. Wondering when he would wake to his carrier chasing Aurora as the dove refused to brush her hair. Wondering when he would see his parents cuddling each other as they took some time to themselves. When he could press himself into his carrier’s stomach and drift asleep, knowing she would always protect him.

He shook himself off, forced his body to stand, and turned towards the base. There was a routine to these runs. He would run to not think, find this lake to lay down and think, then head back to base to processes his thoughts. And process he did.  _ Carrier will wake up,  _ he told himself.  _ She and us have survived through so much and we now have support here. She  _ ** _WILL _ ** _ wake up. _ With those final thoughts, he took off in a sprint.

Running in the dessert was one of the most relaxing things Ember found he could do. Not because he was running away from his problems, but he was running towards comfort. The comfort of knowing his carrier would fight tooth and claw to wake back up. And Ember was going to be ready to go for their runs together again once she opens her eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter :3 I've written all but the last chapter for this short part and working on the next part!


	4. All the Little Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echo remembers the first time he met his future mate.

_ Of course the two met while the sparkling center they were stationed at was attacked by a group of thugs looking for some ransom. And what better ransom than sparklings and kits? Echo had flown into what he had originally thought to be an empty room. His wings ached from using his energon ability so much in a short time. He needed a few moments to rest and recharge. That plan went out the window when sharp teeth dug into him and dragged him to the ground the moment he entered the room. His squawk of shock was cut short as a paw forces his beak shut. A feline face was mere inches from his now, a snarl on her lips. _

_ “Make a sound and I will rip your throat out.” The eagle willed himself not to panic as he stared at the golden eyes. The feline looked like a cyber-lion, her tan fur holding a metallic look to it to copy the feline of the world. He saw the band around the ankle of the paw that held his beak shut. The symbol of the center’s caregivers. His eyes went back to the lioness’ eyes and slowly shifted his body so she could see a similar band around his own foot. Symbol for security. Echo could almost see the gears in hear head turned. Slowly, he felt the pressure on his body be lifted as she backed away. He shook himself off and hopped to his feet. _

_ “Impressive jump,” he complimented, spreading his wings and doing a small bow, “my name is Echo.” _

_ “Daydream.” The lioness, Daydream, bowed her head in a similar greetings. She turned quickly and trotted over to a pile of stacked crates. “It’s alright little ones. We’re still okay.” Soft beeps quickly replied. Echo hopped over to behind the crates to see 4 small cybertron sparklings and 2 shifter kits. From their frames, 2 were femmes and 2 mechs, though the mechs clearly had flight accessories as opposed to the femmes who had more ground vehicle traits. The two kits were harder to determine their gender, though he eventually concluded that both were mechs. From the ears and puffy tails, both were likely foxes or maybe a canine form.  _ ** _All _ ** _ of them were too young to fend for themselves. _

_ “These your charges?” He asked, leaning over and allowed one of the femmes to pat his head. _

_ “The ones that I was able to hide with. Other caretakers took the rest and hid someplace else.” The lioness laid beside the young lives. It was a moment later that the sparklings and kits were pressing themselves into her fur. The two kits looked as though they were hiding under her head while the sparklings cuddled into her back and stomach. Clearly they were terrified of their situation and were latching onto the one thing they knew was safe. Echo hopped over and placed himself between the small group and the door. It was then that he noticed the downed cybertron mech. He looked back at her. Daydream purred softly as she licked one of the kits. “He was one of the enemies.” She explained simply, continuing her grooming of the little one. “He did not heed my warning of remaining silent, so I insured we would remain hidden.” _

_ Honestly, from his own brief experience with her teeth digging into his feathers and powerful paw on his throat, he wasn’t that surprised the mech laid there offlined now. A caretaker takes care of their charges. Most of the time this involves making sure they are happy and healthy. Times likes these, it means attacking those that would wish to hurt them. He looked the mech over. _

_ “How?” A simple question that held a lot of meaning. _

_ “My energon ability is creating barriers of varying size and shape from the ground. Tripped him and quickly got on his throat to give the warning. When he was about to alert the others, sent a spike through his spark.” The bird could see now the gaping hole in the mech’s spark area. _

_ “Nice strategy.” He hunkered down but made sure he could launch to attack in a moment. _

_ “Your ability?” _

_ “My primary and secondary feathers take in the energon and make them sharp. Helpful in cutting organic food and metal threats.” A soft chuckle filled the quiet room. Daydream nudged the kit she was grooming to the side, starting on the other kit. _

_ It was hours later that another cybertronian walked through the door. The avian’s wings instantly turned blue as he readied to fly at the intruder. The cyber-lioness’ claws glowed a similar color blue and a low snarl left her. She crouched in front of the kits and sparklings with her teeth bared and tail wrapped protectively around the young ones. _

_ “Code Black,” the voice called out. “Criminals are gone!” The tension left the two slowly. The femme walked in slowly, clearly knowing that anyone in the room would be defensive. “I repeat, Code Black.” Echo hopped forward first. If this was a trap, at least the bot would attack him first and give Daydream time to protect the hatchlings. The femme glanced down and slowly showed the armband on her arm. One of the other security bots. His ruffled feathers slowly smoothed and he turned to the lioness. A quick nod convinced the caretaker to herd the young ones out of their hiding spot. The sparklings chirped at the larger femme, who cooed and knelt down to pick them up. _

_ “Only one criminal casualty.” Daydream padded over to the femme as Echo gave his brief report. “All hatchlings in here are healthy and safe.” The femme nodded and brought the sparklings and kits out into the hallway, the two shifters following close behind. The avian glanced over at the lioness. “Wanna get something to eat?” He offered. She looked over at him and, after a second, smiled. _

_ “Food sounds wonderful.” And the two would always say that that meal in the sparkling center’s cafeteria was their first date. _

Thinking of their first meeting made him relax slightly, nudging himself even closer to his mate. He held his wings close to him so he could be surrounded by his love. Feeling the heat that radiated from her was a constant reminder that she was still alive and fighting. If the two were able to survive the attack on the center, when they hardly knew each other, they could get through this.

He pressed the side of his head into her neck and made a soft promise, “I’ll be here when you wake. You’ll need to be caught up on everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are 3 more chapters before we get into the main series :3


	5. My Leader...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tempest is the most recent member of the clan but he had found his place easily.

Tempest had the least personal connection to his bevy’s leader. He joined them shortly after Cyertron went dark and both sides began to leave the dead world. Though through the years of traveling with the small pack, he became attached to them. 

Daydream’s kits were the ones he bonded to the quickest. There were many late nights of talking with Aurora when neither of them could sleep. Her talking about how she grew up with the war. How she tried her hardest to make them all smile at least once a day, even when she wanted to cry. He would talk about his old bevy. How he split from them when they chose the Decepticons and he chose the Autobots. He was the ear to listen to the things she felt she couldn’t talk to her kin or her healer with.

Then there were the scouting missions with Ember, and the occasional race to lighten the mood when they don’t find as many resources as they would have liked. The poor pup wanted so hard to provide for his pack. The wolf pushed himself further and further, and the otter felt he was the best to drag him back from the edge of the cliff he kept racing towards. Like his sister, he was not bound by blood or by a healer’s oath. His words were one of a friend, someone who didn’t know his entire life and only the situation the wolf divulged to him. And an outside voice looking in was sometimes just the thing Ember needed to slow his race.

Through the kits, he grew connected to their creators. Daydream and Echo’s relationship was the type he hoped he would have if he ever found a mate. The two knew one another like the back of their hands, or paws and wings. They drew the line between being lovers and being leader and second in command. Of course, that didn’t mean they didn’t fight. Daydream was driven by her emotions, by her need to protect those under her leadership. Echo was her voice of reason when she was blinded to logic. So of course, they sometimes clashed.

The first fight he ever saw was after a skirmish with some cons. Echo had made a call that placed the kits in unintentional danger. Though the call ended up being the right one, the feline had gotten mad at the avian for placing their creations in danger. Despite the raised voice, neither had a harsh tone beyond concern. He saw the stress come out and, after that passed, the soft apologies. They never said anything relationship breaking during their fights, he learned, and anything harmful they did say was talked about after they calmed down from both the physical and verbal fight. Tempest had watched them, seen how much they cared for their creations, and grown to admire the two leaders of the bevy.

Then there was the one the healed them after the physical fight. Tempest would be the first to admit Oracle was the one he was the least closest to. He trusted, respected, and cared about her but it was not on the same level as the blood family. He knew she had known Daydream since she was a kit herself. The otter found ever story the healer would speak about a young Daydream and her less than great ideas. And she had saved his life on more than one occasion. Yet, his attachment to her didn’t grow beyond “healer and patient”, and that didn’t bother either of them. They were able to confide in one another, able to be comfortable with each other’s presence, and that was fine by both of them.

The otter sighed as he sunk into the small tub of hot water. This bevy wasn’t his birth one but he had grown more attached to them than he had with his old one. He wondered if it was a result of the war or of the bonds he had created. He saw the dove fly into the room, chasing her brother who held a blue ribbon in his mouth.

“Give that back, you canine piece of-”

“Watch your language, Aurora!”

“Then tell him to give it back sire!”

“It doesn’t even match your outfit…”

“Like you would know anything about fashion!”

Yeah, he was closer to this bevy than his birth one. How else would he still be able to laugh at this familiar interaction rather than be annoyed that this happens almost every single day?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working on this! I have this part done but work is slower for the first season part. So yeah XD


	6. ...My Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oracle always cared about Daydream.

Oracle liked Ratchet. It was nice to talk to another healer after being the only one in the sleuth. So finally being able to talk about medical procedures and scientific experiments was a relief to her. Not to even mention the fact that if it wasn’t for the Autobot medic, one of her closest and dearest friends would be dead. For that fact alone, the medic had her utmost respect.

The same friend was still asleep, despite it being 3 weeks and the lioness’ vitals improvement. She kept telling herself that this was normal. Shifters’ minds, when their body is close to death, go into a sort of hibernation mode. Normally, this hibernation would last a week or two at most. It was concerning.

The bear lumbered over to the sleeping Daydream. A smile formed on her snout. Despite the reason, Oracle was partly glad she was getting some well needed rest. An IV of energon kept her healthy. Fluids and other medications were mixed in when needed.

_ Maybe her mind is making sure she is  _ ** _mentally _ ** _ fine before waking up. Getting everything sorted out.  _ Oracle shook her head. She could speculate all she wanted but it would do little to help. All she could do was help her younger friend by keeping energon and medication in her. Of course, the shifter leader wasn’t her only patient.

The bear padded out of the med-bay, heading to the main part of the silo. Here was where the Autobots and Shifters alike spent most of their time. Aurora was perched on Bumblebee’s shoulder, the two lounging in a corner and watching some old cybertronian cartoons. Ember was, unsurprisingly, chatting with Cliffjumper. Out of all of the bots in the silo, Ember connected with the red mech the most. Oracle wasn’t exactly sure why the wolf, who was normally very reserved and quiet, clicked with the bright, extroverted, and chatty bot but she wasn’t going to complain. The Dodge Challenger has made the stress on the wolf lessen.

She had watched the stress in the wolf grow and grow in the little cave. He was always the one to take up the patrolling, to get out of the small space with his wounded carrier, to make sure no one would harm their pack while they were vulnerable. So to see the stress that had built up to a boiling point be cooled off, was reassuring.

Oracle lumbered over to the autobot medic, who was clicking away at the keyboard. She laid down beside the mech and watched the group silently. The two healers had a silent understanding. They allow one another to be a steady figure to lean on when they needed it. And sometimes, they both needed it badly. When Ratchet spiraled while worrying about energon rations or possible injuries from possible decepticon attacks (despite it being 2 years since the last large skirmish). She was the one that brought him back with logic, with helping the ration math and preparing for anything and everything. He returned the favor when she would spend days on end laying beside her friend and leader. He would bring her energon, blankets when she refused to leave the lioness’ side, and medical advice when she would spiral.

So that was why she laid beside him as he worked away because she needed a steady figure. She needed another medic to tell her that she was doing everything to help Daydream. And the bot’s unconcerned nature at the moment was exactly what she needed. Slowly, she drifted off into a nap. Who knew when she would need to be alert next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was holding back on updating this cus I was trying to update both of my two works at the same time but I'm not as passionate about the other work atm so I'm gonna just try to focus on this one :3


	7. No More Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole clan is reunited.

It was a month now since the pack joined the Autobots in the silo and nothing changed with their feline leader. Echo would lay by his mate while he slept and every morning and evening. Her kits would visit her daily, talking to her unconscious form about everything that happened during the day. Tempest would stop in every so often, mostly to check in on the kits when they spend a long time in the med bay. And Oracle almost lived there. Not to mention the autobots, who also make their own visits on the occasion. With the constant guests, one would think when the lioness woke up someone would be there.

Of course, that wasn’t the case when the golden eyes finally opened. When she pulled herself up and sleepily looked around the large room, not another living being was present. Daydream looked down at the IV and followed the tube leading to the liquid bag that kept giving her fluids. She carefully pulled the item out of her front leg with her teeth and hopped off the bed she had been resting on. Hazy memories of being put onto Oracles back, of seeing two large cybertronian forms, of her mate murmuring “autobots”, reached her mind. That cleared the panic of being in a deception base. With shaky legs from lack of usage, she padded out of the room and followed her nose.

Daydream had to squint when she walked into what appeared to be the main part of the base. She sat near the entrance to simply watch for a few minutes. A soft smile formed on her snout as she saw her two kits laying with one another on the yellow mech, the 3 of them watching “Skymoon, the Grounder” cartoon on a datapad. She could just imagine Ember complaining about watching the cartoon but silently enjoying the nonsensical show while Aurora would, for once, not tease him. The small otter she recognized as the newest member of her pride was close by. It would have been more surprising if he wasn’t near one of her kits.

Her gaze went over to the large screens. Her oldest friend was sitting next to the red and white mech. The bear’s soft voice chiming in on medical things that were way over Daydream’s head was a reassurance that nothing serious was going on. Then, of course, the first eyes she connect with is her mate’s. The golden eagle had been perched on the tallest cybertronian by far, whom her still tired mind managed to tell her was the leader of the autobots himself. She forced herself to her paws once again as Echo dived over to her. He managed to restrain himself and land in front of her rather than fly right into her. They both touched their foreheads and breathed in each other’s scent.

“Hello, love,” she murmured softly. Echo huffed out a laugh and nuzzled her face.

“Never scare me again.” There were a few more moments of peace before Daydream heard the happy screech from her daughter as she dived over to her, just like her sire. Her kit did not have as much restraint as her sire and crashed into her carrier’s side. Daydream laughed as she nuzzled her kit gently with her snout. Her more reserved kit trotted over. Despite his calmer approach, his smile split his snout. She purred and the two nuzzled each other’s necks.

“My kits,” she purred happily. Her two offspring press into her more, making her laugh as she carefully laid down on the ground to allow them to continue their snuggling. The only thing that took her eyes off of her kits was the heavy footsteps of the semi. The lioness bowed her head in greeting. Optimus responded in kind before kneeling down. Daydream gently pushed her kits off and faced the bot. “Nice to see you again, Optimus.” A small smile crossed the mech’s faceplates.

“You too, Daydream.” The lioness smiled and a sense of calm filled her. Things were going to get better.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Later that night, Daydream found herself lying in the main base with her pride around her. She watched as Tempest, Aurora, and Bumblebee watched another episode of a cartoon. Her wolf kit was fast asleep against her belly while her mate was dozing off on her back. Oracle laid with her back touching the lioness’ back, skimming through a medical article on a datapad that she held in her hands. For once, the rest of the autobot team was also relaxing. Arcee, Cliffjumper, and Bulkhead were chatting idly about anything and everything, constantly looking over at the younger members of their team watching the old cartoon. Daydream could understand the soft look in their optics. She often had the same gentle gaze.

Optimus and Ratchet both relaxed against the wall, shoulder to shoulder, as they went through some things on a datapad. Though it may look like they were working, the closeness of their helms told the lioness that they were enjoying each other’s company rather than actually working. A happy purr rumbled through her body. It was nice to see the two together. Though the rest of her pride had not personally known Optimus, the feline had.

When the shifter clans on Cybertron had aligned, majority, with the autobots, her birth pride had been elected to be the shifter leaders. While her carrier and sire had taken the diplomatic role easily, she was not as ready when they both died fighting early on in the war. The lion nuzzled her mate’s head gently as he slept. Daydream knew that had he not supported her through the transition she would not have been able to lead. It was shortly after she had taken the leader position of the shifters that she had met Optimus face to face. Her clan and the autobots had met while fighting a group of decepticons.

That had been a long battle and the autobot base was the closest, so the Autobot leader has offered a place to rest. That evening, she had taken the time to get to know Optimus while her battlemates slept. That night was the longest time she had visited with him in person. The war had took them both separate ways. As the war progressed, their communications were more business than chat. Just another hard thing about war.

A yawn escaped the lioness. She felt her mate shift on her back, snuggling closer to her. With a soft smile on her snout, she curled herself around her wolf kit. The warmth the two gave off was certainly reassuring, and she drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this one and then this part is gonna be done! I'm still working on the second part of this series so the time between the parts might be a bit long as I get a few chapters done but I'm working on it. Struggling with how to start it...
> 
> PS Would y'all like character sheets for the shifters? I'm currently making some for myself but was curious if anyone else would like for me to post them also.


End file.
